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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22964779">Care</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/buffering/pseuds/buffering'>buffering</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Stress, Stressed Out, tagging? what's that?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 13:20:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>378</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22964779</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/buffering/pseuds/buffering</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lavellan feels the stress of the Inquisition, the Iron Bull takes care of them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Iron Bull/Lavellan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Care</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! First time writing DA fanfic...we'll see how this goes. I often feel weird writing fanfic so everything I write ends up a bit vague...I think you'll see what I mean ^ ^;</p><p>I wrote this in an interesting format, and I'll try my best to keep this format but I'm still not used to A03 - thank you for your patience. </p><p>POV is from Lavellan (male or female or whatever, doesn't really matter tbh). I see this as being in the middle of their relationship, where they've been 'together' for awhile but before they're established in a concrete relationship. </p><p>If you're looking for smut, it's not in here. I don't write that. </p><p>If you have any criticism or advice, please let me know - I appreciate it greatly :)</p><p>~Enjoy~</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>He asks, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what do you need?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>I don’t know how to answer. I need a lot of things - for things to stop falling apart, for my clan to be safe, for this thing on my hand to stop hurting pulsing throbbing for maybe five seconds, for everyone to stop looking at me like I’m something holy or sacred because of bad luck. He can’t give me any of these things. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>I start, </span>
  <em>
    <span>i need...i…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>I kill the words before they can leak out completely. Anything I say would be a lie, and he’d know it. Ben-hassrath. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>i...don’t know. i don’t know what </span>
    <span>i need. i’m sorry. i don’t - i’m sorry.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hot spills, dripping down my face. He didn’t sign up for this. It’s just sex, not tears and all of...of whatever this is. Just sex. I wonder if anyone he’s been with has burst into tears when just starting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>He breathes, </span> <em><span>hey. hey. can i t</span><span>ouch you?</span></em></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course he can. I nod or say yes over snot and sobs. He pulls me in, close, against his broad chest, a grey scarred canvas. A small hand, my right one because I don’t touch anyone with the marked one, presses against it like I’m trying to push away but pull close all at once. Just sex. It started like that, at least. A lot of things start and end differently. The Mark seizes, thrums with the Fade. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>He says, </span> <em><span>here. let’s clean you up a little.</span></em></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Carefully he uses a cloth to wipe my face, tears and red eyes and sobs away. I never expected him to be gentle careful soft, not when he’s all muscle and bulk. I didn’t expect a lot of things from all of this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>He asks, </span> <em><span>do you want to tell me?</span></em></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s always so careful when he needs to be. I speak. Faintly I think how much of this will end up in the letters he sends, if I should actually be saying anything. How my shoulders feel cracked from the weight of Thedas, the world, on them. He knows everything, anyways. Probably. Ben-hassrath and all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>I think about how much I say as I speak. How many secrets slip from my salty lips. I find I don’t care. </span>
</p>
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